


Loopholes

by Fruisun



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Based on something I did in Death Wish, Gen, Idk I thought it was funny when doing it ingame, Oops it turned into hurt/comfort at the end, Snatcher is a tsundere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 08:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21115592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fruisun/pseuds/Fruisun
Summary: Hat Kid comes up with an interesting way to finish one of Snatcher's Death Wishes. Snatcher tries to convince her she's cheating.





	Loopholes

From the start, Hat Kid knew Snatcher’s Death Wishes would be tough. Tough, yeah, but doable. “Doable” wouldn’t cut it though. Hat Kid liked challenges as long as they were fun. Snatcher’s new Death Wish contracts were anything but fun. His snarky remarks against her also started to get on her nerves. The contracts weren’t that difficult, but Snatcher’s attitude sure was.

Hat Kid never thought of his remarks as more than friendly insults though. What’s a friend without being able to strike a nerve every once and awhile, right? Some of his insults did a little more than that though, but she could never tell him that. At least not now while she was doing his new contracts. It’d make her look weak. She already looked plenty weak when she’d slow down after some of his insults.

Snatcher did seem a bit distant sometimes after certain comments he made though. He’d become quiet for a few minutes before coming back, but only to talk about himself. He’d eventually go back to talking about the little alien, but avoiding insulting her directly, instead talking about her hats or weird alien abilities. Did he have regrets?

Hat Kid shook her head and picked up her pen to write a new diary entry. She’s probably thinking too much into it.

_“Ugh. If Snatcher keeps giving me these insane contracts I might just go insane myself. Seriously! Who does he think he is?! I tried taking his new contracts seriously at first but now he’s getting out of hand.”_

A grumble escaped the little alien’s mouth before she continued writing._ “I bet he knows he can’t really kill me but is making me do his dumb contracts just to annoy me.”_

Hat Kid thought back to the many times where Snatcher pointed out loopholes in their BFF contract.

“Kid, it says here to ‘Be My BFF’, not ‘come to my sleepovers’ or ‘make matching hats’.”

“I’m being mean? You know that’s technically subjective. Also, our contract also didn’t say I have to be nice to you _specifically _either, kiddo.”

“‘Having Fun’ is subjective too? Well looks like you got me there… Except I don’t really care. I’m busy. Get the heck out of my forest.”

“Hmph.” Hat Kid pouted at the memories of her and Snatcher’s old conversations regarding their contract. _“Well if he thinks I’m gonna continue his contracts his way then he’s got another thing coming.”_ Smirking, she closed her diary and stood up to straighten her clothes.

Two can play at this game.

“Really, kid? You know what a challenge is right?” Snatcher scoffed at the alien child while pointing at her Scooter Badge. “Sitting in a scooter to deliver mail isn’t that challenging. That’s just called not trying.”

Silence filled the room, which the ghost took as an invitation to continue talking. “You’re trying to get out of this deal easily with that little thing? How pathetic. The single sliver of faith I had in me that you’d take any of these contracts seriously is gone now!” 

Snatcher put the book he was holding down so he could cross his arms. “I thought we were friends, kid! Friends do trivial stuff for each other all the time! Have you never played truth or dare?”

Hat Kid remained silent while staring at Snatcher. An unreadable expression was on her face. The awkward silence lingered in the air again for a few seconds before Snatcher broke it with a long dramatic gasp.

“Oh no, don’t tell me! You’ve never played truth or dare!” More seconds went by with Hat Kid not answering. She just continued staring at Snatcher with that same strange expression on her face. The silence combined with the kid’s look she was giving him made Snatcher incredibly uncomfortable. Why was the kid being so quiet? Why wasn’t she responding? Why was she giving him that face?!

Hat Kid took notice of Snatcher’s distress and her expression changed into smug grin. Her hands went into her pockets as she began to sway back on forth on her heels. If it was _this_ easy to get him unsettled, how would he react to her putting her new plan in motion?

“The contract says I just need to get a Time Piece without jumping. I dunno where you’re getting the whole ‘not trying’ thing from.” Hat Kid took her hands out of her pockets and pulled out the Zero Jumps contract. She scanned through the terms with a finger before turning the paper around so Snatcher could see. 

“I don’t see a ‘No Scooter Badge’ in the terms! Guess that means it’s ok to use, huh?” Snatcher glared at the child in front of him. She was right, he was wrong. He knew this. He just didn’t want to admit it. The ghost’s eyes moved down to the contract Hat Kid was holding out for him to see. Reading through the terms again to find _something_ to dispute the girl’s claim led nowhere. There was nothing to be disputed.

Damn it.

Hat Kid chuckled at Snatcher’s inner turmoil. It was as if she could _feel_ the despair in him as he came to the realization that _she was right and he was **wrong.**_

The ghost growled at the kid’s reaction. With a snap of his claws, the contract in front of the duo turned to dust. “Whoops! Butterfingers! Guess that means you can’t complete the contract anymore. Don’t worry though, I’ll have a _better_ one for you later!” Snatcher howled with laughter, but it didn’t last long.

“...It’s ok if you don’t wanna admit it, but _I_ know that _you_ know that I was right.” The little alien squatted down to touch the ashed carpet. “You’re just too afraid to admit it. You’re afraid of admitting a lot of stuff. It’s ok, I’m afraid to admit some stuff too.” Hat Kid played with the ash between her fingers for a bit until she stood back up, wiping her dirtied fingers on her pants.

Hat Kid looked up to Snatcher, his grin was replaced with a frown and he looked a bit uneasy. “Uh… sorry, didn’t mean to be a downer. I’m gonna go get some cookies. You can stay here doing, um, whatever you do, I guess. Make more contracts? I dunno.” The little alien was halfway across her room before the ghost called back to her.

“Kid, wait,” Snatcher got up from where he was settled and floated in front of Hat Kid. “Is it… Is it me?” Hat Kid tilted her head in response. What did he mean by that? “Every time you get like this it’s after something I said to you. Don’t think I didn’t notice while you were completing your other Death Wish contracts.”

So he did know! Wait, is that why he would stop insulting her after she’d noticeably slow down while doing his contracts? At least she didn’t have to mention it herself now. Although she did feel a bit embarrassed that he knew this whole time and that she was worrying about nothing. Does this mean he really does care? Why would he stop insulting her if he didn’t care? This thought alone made Hat Kid tear up.

“Woah, wait a minute kid, are you crying?!” Snatcher recoiled a bit as at first glance he thought she was crying at him. Looking down at her for a bit longer broke this suspicion as he took notice of her wavering smile. The child soon reached her arms out, silently asking to be comforted. Snatcher sighed and complied.

The two were holding onto each other in silence for a minute, with Snatcher holding the little alien in his arms, one arm embracing her and the other gently petting her head. It was Snatcher who eventually spoke up to break the silence. 

“So does this mean I was right?” Hat Kid lifted her head out from Snatcher’s fluff and giggled. Although she was just crying and her voice was hoarse, she still somehow managed a snarky reply. “No… The contract never said ‘No Scooter’.” Snatcher ruffled her hair in response. They both giggled.

“C’mon kid, you know what I mean. It was me, wasn’t it?” The ghost’s voice was clearly quieter when he asked that question, Hat Kid noticed.

“Uh… y-yeah…” Hat Kid pulled away from Snatcher and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, also moving any loose strands of hair stuck to her face from the tears. Hat Kid felt Snatcher’s mood change to that of regret and immediately tried to remove his worries. “B-but! It’s not what you’re thinking, I promise!” The little alien waved her hands around as if to try and shoo away Snatcher’s bad emotions.

Hat Kid took a few seconds thinking of how to explain what she meant. He clearly knew his remarks were bothering her, which is why he’d stop being so harsh for a while. So why was it hard for her to tell him he was right about that? About how he cared? Was she still scared of his response? But she knew his response already… right?

“It’s not… _you_ but it’s… you?” She finally said. This just confused Snatcher even more. “Wh-” Hat Kid immediately cut him off. “Wait! I mean… yeah, it’s _you_. Like, big mean Snatcher you. But… it’s also _you_ like, big softy Snatcher.” Snatcher grimaced at her last statement. 

The little alien looked down at her hands and twiddled her fingers. Geez, this would be embarrassing to say. She really wanted to though. They both needed to hear it. “You’re a big meanie sometimes Snatcher, but you know when to stop. I like both those Snatchers… the big meanie and the big softy.” 

_“I just wish I saw the softy side more…” _

“What was that?” Snatcher asked. Oh no, did she say that out loud?! Wait, did he mind? He didn’t sound like he was genuinely upset, and he doesn’t feel angry… Her doubts stopped when the ghost gently picked her up and ruffled her hair. 

“Sorry kiddo, but I only show my ‘softy side’ to people I care for and trust. You’re only one of those, and I bet you already know which one so I _don’t_ have to tell you and you’ll never get it out of me anyways!” Hat Kid giggled at that statement. Well he kind of admitted it at least!

The two stayed where they were for what felt like hours, going back and forth between _actual _friendly insults and vague compliments.

Before they knew it the day was done and it was time for Hat Kid to go to bed. She had one more thing to do before sleeping though…

Hat Kid picked up her pen and wrote a single sentence. A big drawing of both her and Snatcher hugging each other taking up the rest of the page.

_“He totally knows he can’t kill me.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Wow I finished a fic for the first time in, what, 7 years? I have so many drafts for A Hat in Time specifically that I keep putting off oops...  
Maybe one day I'll finish them. AHiT releasing on Switch has given me more motivation since I can finally play the game without it lagging like hell on my laptop lol


End file.
